


Empathy for the Devil (Original)

by Gingerine_Tangerine



Category: Original Work
Genre: Empathy, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Fantasy, Multi, Romance, Science Fiction, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:28:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29376396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gingerine_Tangerine/pseuds/Gingerine_Tangerine
Summary: At Alland University the Leveled are given a top notch education before facing a world of multiple challenges. One of those challenges are a scourge of giant shape shifting bug monsters, but not to worry the Leveled have evolved the ability to access individualized powers that make them the perfect protectors of humanity.One of these OP defenders in training is Aksel Evenstadt, a young man with incredible power but an even more devastating attitude problem. His coaches and teachers are at their wits end trying to get him to work with his team instead of against it. When Clara Camlyn suddenly transfers to ALU, the head ChronoTactics coach sees an opportunity to exploit Aksel's weaknesses, and hopefully open him up to change.Will Aksel learn to play nice? Or will he spiral further out of control? The fate of the world may be in the gentle hands of Clara as she tries to offer the opportunity for personal growth and development, while learning her own true value.
Relationships: Clara Camlyn/Aksel Evenstadt, Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Dr. Marcela Alves scrolled through her laptop, frustrated by her lack of foresight yet again, as she searched for the video she wanted to show her 101 students. She used it every year, and every year she forgot to save it to a playlist.  _ Ay, Dios mio! Why do I do this to myself?  _ She could earn tenure at one of the most prestigious Leveled universities in the world, but she couldn’t manage to make a playlist? Ridiculous. 

She was ready to give up, the students could find their own visual example, when finally one of her searches bore fruit. She could recognize it from the thumbnail and was about to click on it, finally correcting her recurring mistake when she hesitated. Her eyes pulled to the video next to it, instinct lightbulbing in her brain. It would have been impossible for her to say what had pulled her attention at that very moment, but later when she told the story to her family her ancient Avo´ would call it fate. That same pull of predestination moved her hand, playing the video.

She had seen it before, everyone had, that's probably why it had resulted in her search, the 100s of millions of views affecting the algorithm. It was taken at the beginning of the last cycle so it was a grainy 20 years old, barely tolerable compared to modern UHD standards. The shot was focused on a reporter standing in front of a seaside boardwalk, a ferris wheel visible in the background.

“That’s right Tom, I’m here at the Santa Monica Pier where a recent string of assaults in the surrounding area have led to an increase in security here at this popular destination. Causing...” The reporter, who according to the infographic at the bottom of the screen, was Sarah Golding was cut off as the camera began to pan to a disturbance behind her. “Hold on Tom it would appear like something is happening here, give me a moment to try and...” She trailed off as she searched for the source of the agitation. 

The frame pulls in and out of focus for a moment before settling on the people running and screaming towards Sarah. The zoom is jagged and nauseating as the cameraperson seeks out the cause of the spreading terror. Finally landing on the genesis of outreaching chaos. 

“Oh shit!” The professional reporter lost herself for a moment as she comprehended the horror behind her, and no one had ever bothered to bleep it out even all this time later. “Cicada! Tom it’s a Cicada!” The once innocuous implications of the moniker buried beneath the pure panic in her tone. Once upon a time the name didn’t grip the human heart with ice, but that time was past.

The Cicada had already risen from the ground like they always did, its vaguely insectoid shape partially explaining humanities name for the creatures. The shifting of the monster could almost be mistaken for terrible camera work, an in and out of the zoom with an unsteady hand but it was an accurate representation of the evil wretches. 

They never seemed to stay the same shape for long. Growing and losing limbs moment after moment. More heads, less heads, teeth in the wrong place then the right place. It remained relatively stable in size, comparable to a city bus, but its mass was shifting under its skin. It was almost fluid in its movement from one form to another, never landing for more than a moment.

Sarah seemed to gain a little bit of her composure back, as the anchorman had started to ask her questions. 

“Sorry Tom, I can’t hear you, but I can confirm that a Cicada has appeared here right outside the pier! People are running, trying to get away.” She and the camera had moved to get a better angle as she continued her commentary. “It looks like it is a single class I, I’m not sure but I think we are looking at the first attack of a new cycle.” She could be heard swearing again, seeming to trip on something as she kept moving towards the threat. The camera never straying from the beast. “It hasn’t stopped morphing so I think that means no one has been... oh no! It has someone!” She was desperate to keep her composure but she lost the last of it as an older man could be seen in the clutches of the creature.

The Cicada’s erratic shifting halted, leaving only one maw with hundreds of dripping teeth. It’s skin was pebbled and rough with a muddy green coloration. The arm that held the old man had segmented joints like an ant or nightmare roach. Horrifying claspers gripped its victim who was kicking and screaming, slamming weak fists against the clubbed digits. The terror of his final moments evident on his face even in the old standard definition video. The young woman's hand went over the lens just as the Cicada started to stuff the human into its mouth. 

Common sense or wholehearted fear took the place of surprise and journalistic instinct as Sarah and her cameraperson fled. Saving their own lives. The last frame the Cicada was visible showed it knocking a car out of its way. Unnecessarily since the creatures could pass through physical objects like they weren’t even there. Sometimes, for reasons no one understood they could touch, move and destroy while merely ghosting through at other times. It seemed totally random what the monsters interacted with.

As the camera turned a Leveled Cicada Assault Team in body armor was charging towards the insect, assault rifles at the ready. Their Leveled officer obvious in a uniform designed to amplify their QP. It was dark blue with green accents, a symbol on the chest indicating the leaders Quantitative Power was a water type. The camera turned back around to follow the LCAT as the dozen or so men and women engaged the enemy. Spreading out to put themselves between the freakish abnormality and any remaining civilians before spraying bullets across its skin. 

The Cicada seemed to react by turning it’s attention fully to the team, but it kept moving in its disconcerting way so it was impossible to tell. Its lack of eyes adding to the difficulty of tracking its intentions. The weapons would eventually kill the creature but really they were only there as back up to the true damage dealer. The Leveled stepped to the center of his team taking a battle stance with knees bent. The camera operator tightened the shot so the officer and the monstrosity was all that could be seen on the screen.

One beat later the Leveled pulled his arms back, and as he brought them forward again, water shot from his palms blasting into the side of the Cicada. The water must have been close to boiling in temperature because the steam obscured the monster for a few moments. The Leveled moved closer, dashing quickly to cut off any attempted escape. He slid into position just as the Cicada came back into view, its skin covered in blisters that grew and shrunk with its characteristic movement.

The Leveled leapt into the air, using a burst from under his feet to give him additional height. At the apex of the jump, as he came face to face with his enemy, he attacked again. This time from not only his hands but his open mouth and eyes. A torrent of boiling water engulfing the monster as it shrank away, shuddering and convulsing. The changes in its shape coming faster and faster as the rest of the team began unloading their weapons' deadly projectiles once their officer was clear. The Leveled kept up a steady stream as he stood shoulder to shoulder with his team. 

The Cicada’s arms swung wildly around, finally putting up a panicked fight. An arm that hadn’t been there a moment before caught an armored woman in the chest, sending her spinning away into the side of a parked car. It was too late though, the fiend was stumbling, nearly melting under the barrage of shots and water. It seemed to deflate as it withdrew once again into the ground, the hissing of steam the only sound it made. 

The reporter who had been surprisingly silent during the exchange finally regained her senses.

“An LCAT has arrived and they have managed to dispatch the Cicada. I don’t really know what else I can say besides how thankful I am they were here, even if it was too late for at least one person. I’ll remain on scene and try to get more details but...” The video ended abruptly, the replay button taking over the now black screen. Marcela just stared, her mind chasing down the beginnings of a thought.

She sat back in her seat, everything around her fading into the background as she grasped at an idea that seemed almost too absurd to be worth pursuing. It really was very unlikely, unless...Marcela’s eyes widened as she wrapped her keen mind around the burgeoning concept. Giving it her full attention before landing on the impossible possibility. It would be a difficult idea to explore much less prove. She would need her faithful companion and dear friend and she needed them now. She needed math!

She pulled open her self made software and began plugging the needed inputs in order to run the first of thousands of simulations to find the first traces of her proof. All other thoughts evacuating her brain. Time passing unnoticed until the abrupt entrance of her doctoral candidate Roshni Namjoo.

“Dr. Alves! One of your grad students just called me, you missed all of your classes today?” Marcela didn’t even look up from her screen as she answered.

“I need math today Ms. Namjoo, in fact I need math for the foreseeable future. I wish you luck with that class load you signed me up for.” She finally granted her friend and teaching assistant a glance over the top of her screen. Making it clear she would not be educating the most recent round of undergrads until the science had soothed her nerves and she at least knew which direction to take this new theory. The younger woman seemed to shrink, shoulders sagging in defeat. This wasn’t the first time this had happened and she knew better then to argue. 

Marcela smiled to herself, the other woman's resignation had happened faster this time. Which only made sense considering the discovery she had made the last time she had been whipped up into a fury like this. Roshni may have been resigned in spirit but she wasn’t done speaking her mind.

“Can I at least ask what you’re working on? Since it will have me doing your job until administration steps in again.” Marcela returned her eyes to her screen, punching in some of the data she had managed to procure from the university’s online archive. She shrugged, playing into her dramatic nature as she answered.

“Nothing too important, I just figured out what the Cicadas are.” She kept herself from looking up, but couldn’t hide a small smile at the gasp from Roshni.


	2. Observation Triangle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to ALU! Where anything is possible, except a civil conversation with Aksel.

Kaelen Bardeen took a deep breath that accompanied a languid stretch of his sore muscles as he settled into his normal seat at his favorite cafeteria on Alland University campus. He was surrounded by the usual crowd, with row after row of benched tables full of his peers. The low buzz of conversation was comforting and the perfect white noise after a long morning of classes. His friend, and workout partner, Aksel was already there, apparently finished with his lunch since he now had his laptop open, reading something. He wondered for a moment if their time at the gym that morning had left Aksel in a similar state of discomfort.

He was a tall man, nearly as tall as Kaelen himself but with a more slim build compared to Kaelen’s own bulky size. His hair was red and orange at the roots but a charcoal black at the tips. It made his head look like a glowing ember, something Kaelen would tease him for at any opportunity. Not that he had any right to, all Leveled had weird hair, it was one way to tell them apart from normal people. Kaelen’s own hair was a dark navy to match his pale blue eyes. In fact most of the heads in the room were an odd color, making the normal blondes and brunettes stand out.

Kaelen took the first bites of his food before breaking the silence between them.

“Comrádaí, I know we’re best buddies and all but you didn’t have to wait for me. I know you don’t like to study here.” his friend grunted, not looking up from his laptop as he responded.

“I didn’t wait for you, and don’t call me that!” Kaelen grinned knowing the level of denial his friend was experiencing was at its usual high point.

“You know what Aksel? Someday you’re going to have to admit that you like having me around!” Kaelen gave the large man a clap on the back as he chuckled. Aksel rolled his shoulders to get the unwanted hands off of him.

“Today’s not that day asshole, now get the fuck off me!”

Kaelen leaned back on his seat, uncaring of the harsh tone as he watched the other three of their little group approach. Ari, Santi and Barasa all had a class together before lunch so it was normal for them to arrive at the same time. Ari slid into the bench next to him, greeting him enthusiastically while the other two sat opposite of Aksel. 

“Què passa els meus amics?*” Asked Santi as he and Kalen clapped hands briefly over the table. Santi reached for Aksel’s hand but let it drop immediately when the latter raised a dark eyebrow, a disapproving sneer on his face. Santi always reached for the brooding man and was always rejected. Kaelen hoped that one day the slow Spaniard would put an end to the pointless action, since it seemed to hurt his feelings, but he doubted it. As usual Barasa eased the awkwardness with a boisterous laugh as he draped an arm around Santi’s shoulder with a playful squeeze.

“Do not worry my friend, this shetani will miss us all one day!” The dark skinned man laughed even harder when Aksel scoffed and leaned further back on the bench, his arms across his chest. Defensive. Ari added her light giggle to Barasa's deep bass one, leaning forward to look around Kaelen at the target of their teasing.

“Yes Sucre´ you can continue to deny it for as long as you like, but you love us!” Santi’s smile was returning, bolstered by his friends. Aksel was looking back at his laptop, muttering under his breath. Kaelen gave a short snort of laughter as he looked away from the sulker and to Ari’s happy face.

If anyone was rainbows and unicorns it was her, she practically sparkled. Her hair was bubblegum pink and her face was round and soft with an implied innocence that was immediately belied.

“Did you hear Yoojin and Luciano going at it last night? Mon Dieu! I think that poor girl must have been split in half!” Kaelen shook his head as the other two howled with laughter and started making their own comments about the unsubtle couple. The two had been flirting back and forth for FOREVER and it was nice to see, well hear, them seal the deal. Not nice actually, more awkward than anything else, the team house where they all lived had thin walls. Kaelen cringed, hoping his own dalliances were less obvious to his teammates.

Conversation began to slide back into the normal complaints about some professors, praise for others, and general observations. Becoming light and easy, as a conversation amongst friends should be. After a particularly raunchy comment made by Ari, she really did have a dirty mind, Kaelen tried to share a glance with Aksel. Instead of finding his friends predictable eye roll, the dark rust colored eyes were staring intently at something across the room.

Kaelen tried to follow his gaze while the other three continued their conversation, unaware of Aksel’s distraction and Kaelens fascination, until he landed on a girl. Kaelen smirked, enjoying the accuracy of his instincts, it would have had to be a girl to procure such a laser focus from his disagreeable mate.

She was pretty, and Leveled if her purple hair was any indication. If Kaelen wasn’t mistaken she played for the Constellations, the Gamma league team ALU sponsored on the ChronoTactics circuit. None of that explained the intensity of the curiosity that could be seen in Aksel’s eyes but the fact that she sat all alone with her entire team on the other side of the room even peaked Kaelen’s interest. It was a bit of a mystery, and that probably explained the uninterrupted stare.

As Kaelen glanced between the two, both of whom were unaware of the observation triangle, he caught a glimpse of a familiar brown head making its unsure way across the cafeteria, clearly looking for a place to sit. His nervous face communicated his anxiety, he was new to this school and Kaelen couldn’t just leave him out in the rain. 

“Oi, Jason!” He called gesturing the young man over. Jason approached, still a little uncomfortable but gratified he knew someone in the crowded room.

“Take a seat mate!” Kaelen indicated the seat next to Santi, knowing his friend wouldn’t mind helping a lad out. Jason hesitated but Santi jumped to his feet, easing the tray out of Jason’s hands to set it on the table.

“Yeah man! Come join us, best seats in the house.” Santi eased Jason onto the bench in a friendly way before sitting back down himself. Jason smiled nervously around before setting his eyes back on Kaelen.

“Thank you, I’m still getting used to this place, and the students.” He hesitated a little on the last word and Kaelen could hear the implication. By ‘students’ Jason meant Leveled, which was fair. Only 15% of the population was born with weird powers after all and weren’t encountered that often in the real world. However, Jason had just moved to a University where the majority of the students belonged to that weird super class and he was bound to be a little intimidated. Well, the guy was going to learn that Leveled were pretty much the same as any other folks, and that he didn’t need to feel nervous around them.

“Course! Welcome to our little crew. Let me introduce you around!” Kaelen gestured first to the small woman beside him “This is Ariane Cloutier, she’s Canadian so you can count on her being nice to you. Ari, and all I guess, this is Jason” She elbowed him painfully in the ribs as she spoke for herself.

“Bonjour Jason, this brute knows full well I am French Canadian and therefore I am not nearly as nice as you might assume. Also to put a stereotype to bed, we Canadians are not ‘nice’ we are simply polite. Something I have been trying to straighten out in this one's head for years now.” Kaelen snickered, basking in the way he had pushed her buttons. 

Before Jason could do more than smile and nod at Ari, Kaelen pointed at Santi.

“This gobshite is Santiago Cerro. He’s from Spain apparently, but I can’t think of anything funny to say about that. I know, I’m disappointed too.” The turquoise haired Spaniard snorted at the introduction and shook Jason’s hand, returning the greeting enthusiastically.

“Hola, Jason! m'agrada conèixer-te germà!*” The exuberant Santi would have happily continued the conversation but Kaelen interrupted him for the sake of continuing.

“This is Barasa Onyango from Kenya” Kaelen indicated the ruby haired African whose bold features would make him stand out in any crowd. “I would say something about slanderous relations with zebra’s but I have been informed that statements like that are racist and I should avoid them. So I will. Because I listen.” This earned him a chuckle from Barasa and another sharp poke from Ari who had been the one to inform him of the distasteful nature of his sense of humor. She probably didn’t appreciate him using her disapproval as a method to say the terrible thing anyway.

“Hello Jason.” Barasa cut across the brewing confrontation to make his own introductions. “Do not mind this fool, the generations of Irish whiskey and unappealing dark beer have pickled his brain, poor thing never had a chance.”

Kaelen sucked in a cheek, shaking his head. Barasa could come at him directly all he wanted but to insult Guinness was far too low a blow.

Barasa ignored him as he continued. “How did you come by the misfortune of his acquaintance?” Jason looked speculatively between the two of them before addressing the group as a whole.

“I’m his physics tutor, it’s a great way to meet new people, and make a little money from the school. Kaelen doesn’t really need much help but he sure can put a group at ease.” Jason shared a shy smile with Kaelen at the memory, it hadn’t been the group that needed soothing, just the poor lamb teaching lions. “I was recently accepted into a graduate program here and I don’t really know anyone yet.” Ari cooed happily as she reached across the table to tug on the cuff of his sleeve.

“Oooooh graduate student, what are you studying?” Her bright eyes focused on him as the center of her attention as she leaned her short frame over the table. Jason started at her for a moment before clearing his throat. Kaelen was impressed when the newcomer only stuttered a little bit with his explanation

“I’m going to be a QP analyst.” Ari’s face tightened just a little bit around the edges, not quite sure what he meant by that. “QP analysts are the one who get kids registered as Leveled Up by taking measurements of their Quantitative Powers. Basically we are responsible for the quantitative part of QP.” Jason's explanation brought understanding to the faces around the table, all except Aksel who wasn’t listening in the first place.

“Oh yeah! I remember that!” Santi knocked into Jason with his shoulder, spreading his enthusiasm through contact. “My parents brought me to this weird gym in the middle of an office building where I Flashed out as much as I could. I was so exhausted I passed out! My padre had to carry me out to the bus and I stayed asleep the entire ride home!” Jason was nodding along, validating Santi’s experience.

“Yeah exactly! Analysts also work for groups like the Cicada Elimination Task Force ranking the QP’s of their LCAT officers. Even working on the team giving information about other QP’s or ideas on how to improve. It’s really interesting actually. Personally I want to work in QP Control, helping identify rouges and assisting the Control officers arrest and contain bad guys!” In his passion for his work Jason had forgotten his anxiety and was speaking freely with the group. He had everyone's attention, even Aksel was watching him over the top of his screen. 

“Bad guys? You call them bad guys?” Santi chuckled derisively and Jason blushed but everyone else ignored him. Aksel finally spoke.

“That's why you're here at ALU. A higher concentration of Leveled to ‘analyze’?” The sarcasm on the last word wasn’t missed by anyone, especially not Jason. Kaelen glared at his friend for a moment, he loved the dude but he could be such an asshole sometimes. He tried to rescue the situation.

“Well that makes sense boyo, and if I may offer myself as an object of study. I would be happy to help you out if you need a QP to practice with.” His other friends nodded as well reassuring their new acquaintance who may have accepted the offers if it wasn’t for the approach of  Lian Chen .

She had dark maroon hair, and a sharp, pretty face. Her eyes were dark and heavy with seductive intent and her body language screamed temptation. It didn’t help that she had done something to her outfit to make it tighter then it should be. She leaned on Aksels end of the table, eyes only for him. Kaelen smirked as he realized what was about to happen. Her first words wiped the expression off of his face.  
“Really Aksel, I’ll never understand why you spend so much time with these losers.” Kalen blinked, completely taken aback by the insult, he had expected some kind of plea, but he hadn’t thought she would go this route. Apparently his other companions were as well since they were all making sounds of protest.

“Losers? When did we become losers?” Kaelen looked around the table confusedly, interrupting the intruder's next words. She barreled on anyway.

“Why don’t you come hang out with me and my friends?” She gestured over her shoulder, indicating a table full of beautiful women, but Kaelen wasn’t done defending himself .

“This is nearly half of the Supernovas sitting here! How are we losers?” He asked and Ari piped up too, adding to his point.

“You're even the team captain Kae!”

“Hey that’s right I am!” Kaelen played up his indignation, exaggerating his movements. “Why wouldn’t he hang out with us? This is the baddest group of battle boys around. I demand satisfaction!” Santi sniggered at Kaelen’s faux outrage and he had made enough of a stink Lien could no longer ignore him.

“You’re losers because I say you’re losers.” She drawled, her eyes nearly falling out of her head in her disdain. She had no intention of engaging with them any further even though Kaelen continued to make disgruntled noises. “What do you say Aksel? Want to join us? I promise I can keep you entertained.” Aksel raised an eyebrow at the less than subtle implication, but otherwise his expression remained blank. “Come on, it’ll be fun, what do you have to lose?” She leaned even closer to him, lengthening her body.

Kaelen, having ended his one sided exchange glanced between the girl and her prey, wondering how his friend would play this one out. 

Aksel shut his laptop and leaned his elbows on the table in front of him, closing the distance between himself and the young woman. He offered her a characteristic smirk, one without any humor behind it before finally speaking softly.

“Fuck off.” He paused, his eyes remaining on hers before sitting back and opening his laptop again. Lian blinked for a moment, stunned but undeterred. She reached out and closed the laptop again forcing Aksel to snatch his fingers off of the keys before they could be snapped by the lid. The irascible man looked back up at her, fire in his eyes. He was done playing nice. If Lian saw the danger lurking in the large man’s posture she ignored it.

“Don’t be like that! We could have a great time together!” She leaned close again, whispering. “I’ve heard all about how great a time you can be, and I want to see for myself if it's true.” The way she licked and then bit her bottom lip made it clear she wasn’t talking about Aksels video game skills. 

Kaelen noticed the tightening of Aksel’s posture, subtly communicating his discomfort, but he was sure Lian hadn’t seen it as her smile had deepened. Using every asset she had to tow her target away with her. She also didn’t notice the small flicker of light pop off of Aksel’s elbow, or see it flit its erratic flashing way up her body to hover next to her ear. Kaelen, and his other friends raised their hands to cover their own ears just in time.

The POP of the spark exploding was enough to startle everyone in the room but the effect it had on Lian was devastating. She grabbed her head as she screamed and flung herself to the side, losing her balance and falling to the floor. Her friends, who had been watching the exchange hopeful for her success, struggled out of the bench seats. A tangle of long limbs scrambling to reach her side and help her regain her feet.

As she got back up, supported on either side by a different woman, Kaelen was pleased to see that her ear wasn’t bleeding. Aksel had controlled the size of the blast perfectly. Sure her head was probably ringing but it was unlikely she would have any  permanent damage . She was probably just startled more than anything else.

Lian proved his theory true by shoving off her assistants, over the shock and moving fully into pissed.

“Fuck you Aksel!” She spat at her victim turned attacker. “You really are the fucking Devil aren’t you?” She gave a final screech of frustration before storming off with her clique in tow.

Unable to resist the perfect timing Kaelen turned to Jason and gently shouldered his simmering bench mate.

“This hunk of angry fire and spice is the Devil!” Aksel shot him a glare but Kaelen continued. “Also known as Aksel Evenstadt” Aksel rolled his eyes at Kaelen before shrugging and nodding at Jason. “That means he’s delighted to meet you.”

“Shut the fuck up Bardeen.” Aksel said as he pulled his laptop back open to continue whatever it was he had been doing. However, Ari snapped in his direction to get his attention.

“You need to learn to use your words mon amie! That was very unnecessary!” Kaelen scoffed, in complete disagreement.

“He did use his words! Hell he used his body, and she ignored both! No means no right?” Ari eyed both men critically, unwilling to let it go too soon. Aksel started back at her, his expression a slightly softer glare then usual. When her eyes rested again on his face, Kaelen shrugged in a ‘what did you expect?’ kind of way. She relaxed her disapproval, exhaling begrudgingly.

“Fine, but still. Communication! Improve it!” She pointed a finger in his direction, but Aksel just shook his head and looked back to his work.

Jason, who had watched the entire situation unfold in fascination, could no longer contain his curiosity.

“What an intriguing QP! Was that a spark that can explode? Did you move it to her ear or was that a coincidence? Can you use more than one at a time? Is that as large as they get?” The questions peppered rapidly, feverish ideation overtaking the lad. Before Aksel could answer or, more likely leave, Barasa interrupted with a question of his own.

“Jason, Jason, slow down my friend! Are we to understand that you have never seen our dear Aksel’s QP before?” Jason glanced at the confused faces around him, shaking his head slowly. The table erupted in disbelief. Santi was speaking rapidly in Catalan, gesturing wildly with his hands back and forth between the two men. Barasa had leaned away letting his low laugh roll off of him boisterously. Ari competed for Jason’s attention with Santi asking the same things over and over again. 

“Do you know who he is? Who we are? What about the Supernovas?” Each question of Ari’s was met with the same shake of Jason’s head. Kaelen joined his own laugh with Barasa’s, slapping Aksel on the back who didn’t shake him off. In fact a small smile grew on the usually flat affect he called a face. Ari and Santi were burning out, unable to get what they thought was a reasonable answer from the future Analyst. Kaelen took it upon himself to step in and play mediator.

“Oi you two clam down!” Ari and Santi quelled any further questions, letting their captain take the lead. “So, you aren’t a ChronoTactics fan are ya Jason?” Understanding washed over the older man's face as the uproar around him started to make sense.

“Oh, do you guys play? That makes a little more sense I guess. No, no I’m not. If I was, would I have seen you all play before? Are you popular or something ?” Barasa’s laugh started up again, creating a rhythmic bass line for the conversation. Santi began to protest again, but conceded the floor back to Kaelen after another quick look between them. This would need to be a simple and succinct explanation. 

“Yeah we play for the Supernova’s. It's the Alpha league team here at ALU” 

“That’s the TOP league man, right under the pro’s” Santi interrupted, his pride getting the better of him. He sighed and glanced away again after another stern look from Kaelen.

“Right, well we don’t mean to brag.” He gave each one of his teammates a look in turn getting a begrudging acknowledgement from each one. “It’s just that the games are televised, and since so many people seem to enjoy the sport it gets easy to assume everyone knows who we are. Especially Aksel, since the school likes to use him as a marketing ploy.” The guy next to him shifted uncomfortably, not pleased with the turn the explanation had taken. The small smile vanished from his face, replaced by his favorite glower. “It’s good for us to remember that life really does exist outside of ChronoTactics practice and games.  I think it's refreshing to know I’m really not that big of a deal in the scheme of things. Good for the ol’ perspective”

Jason had been nodding along, keeping up just fine with the new data.

“Well I’m sorry if I insulted you, but I just never could get into the sport. It's just a bunch of random stuff each time.” Santi palmed his face in frustration but let Jason continue. “The rules aren’t very clear and I never could make any sense of it. Also it turns out I’m not really into violence. ” Kaelen gave him his most winning smile.

“Neither am I, but luckily ChronoTactics isn’t about violence, it’s about skill. How well you can adapt to a situation and use your QP to greatest effect. That's why the challenge is different every time, and why the map changes.” Kaelen nudged Aksel, trying to get him to chime in but as usual he was left hanging. He sighed before he went on. “It’s like a video game, in fact it was invented by a group of gamers that wanted to try out some of the things they saw in games themselves. So it probably does seem random to you, and I can admit it is a damn inconvenience coming up with winning strategies on the fly, but that's what makes it amazing!”

He could tell Jason still didn’t quite get it, he liked his regimentation and his datasets so the chaos of CT probably would never be appealing to him . “It’s a shame you don’t enjoy the games, I would imagine they would be a great way to gather data on different QP types and strengths.” As expected this seemed to peak Jason's interest. “In fact if you wanted to join us at practice after class, I bet we could give you a pretty good show.”Kaelen raised an eyebrow at his companions who immediately repeated the invitation. Ari was especially convincing, laying her hand on the grad students briefly while imploring him.

“Oh, Jason you must! You will learn so much, I am sure of it!” 

Unable to resist them all, Jason agreed to join them at the large enclosed gym on the far side of campus that afternoon for the Supernova’s closed training session.

An alarm on Aksel’s phone alerted them all to the end of their shared time together. Aksel and Kaelen left first headed to the same class, the other three still had another 30 minutes before they would need to split up and go on their ways as well.  Kaelen waited until they were well away from the cafeteria before attempting to speak to his friend about the events of the afternoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *What's up my friends?  
> *Nice to meet you Bro!  
> This is a first draft of a converted original. It will probably change as time goes on but I think it's good enough now to not embarrass myself. Also this is based off my fan-fic of the same name, but I have made major changes-including building my own world and creating my own characters. It is under my list of works though if you would like to check it out! There are some spoilers, but meh who cares at this point. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! And as always feel free to hit that Kudo button and leave a comment! I love to hear from you!


	3. The Devil's Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason Banks makes his way to Alpha Gym after being cajoled into watching a ChronoTactics practice session and meets the rest of the Supernova's!

Jason Banks stepped out of his last lecture, bidding the small class goodbye. He shouldered his bag, confident it contained all the materials he might need, and pulled out his phone. He opened the ALU app and typed in where he needed to go, the app located him, and the instructions on how to get to Alpha gym popped up on his screen. 

He noticed for the first time that there were four large freestanding gyms scattered around campus, and several smaller ones inside buildings he had thought were reserved solely for instruction. He wasn’t really surprised when he thought about it, he hadn’t met another student yet that had been out of shape. He had assumed it had something to do with the nature of being born Leveled, like hair color and good looks. It was common knowledge that Leveled had additional stamina and overall ‘toughness’ but it seemed like the slim figures and defined muscles he saw everywhere were earned.

He looked at the walking map, checking the directions to see if he would need to take one of the shuttles to a different part of campus but noticed that his destination was actually on the way to his favorite coffee shop. How many times had he passed it and not realized? It was the one other place besides his dorm he knew how to get to without his face buried in the virtual map.

He put his phone away, desirous to save the battery when he was pretty sure he could get there without it. He could always pull it out again if he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings, and made his way to the main hall of the Ishida Fudoki math and science building.

Maybe it was because he didn’t have his face in a book or device, or maybe it was because he had just met him in person, but for the first time Jason noticed the large banners that hung from the ceiling framing the door. The banner on the left of the door said “Supernovas” in large vertical graphic print on the background of an exploding star. The one on the right features a 25’ tall snarling Aksel, sparks popping off his shoulders and hair. It was an intimidating sight, and Jason was suddenly very glad the man had been so quiet during their brief interaction.

Out of curiosity Jason paused, did everyone else just walk by like he did? Or was he the exception, not the rule. He stationed himself across from the door and observed the behavior of the people passing through the room. What he discovered made him seriously concerned for his skills in observation.

The promotional material caught the eye of nearly everyone as they walked by, looking up at the sneering player for at least a fraction of a second. Jason even saw what must have been a self tour of ALU stop and take pictures in front of the banner. It was a mother and son and they were making quite a show of posing to get that perfect shot with the imposing, violent version of Aksel in the background. Jason shook his head very slightly, disappointed in himself. No wonder his lunch mates reacted the way they did, he really should have been able to recognize at least one of them.

Well, there was no point just standing around, he had better get on with it, besides that QP was probably something to see if it got Aksel plastered all over school. It was also probably well documented, creating an opportunity to compare his current ranking skills to that of real professionals. Kaelen had been right, this might be the perfect experience for him. He made his way out the door, refusing to look up again.

He made a decided effort to be aware of his surroundings, and was ashamed to discover statues, signs, and even a small pavilion that he hadn’t ever noticed before. Mostly he saw more ChronoTactics posters and signs that he would have thought impossible to ignore. He saw signboards of the other teams and he gathered that the four teams were the Nebulas, Constellations, Galaxies, and Supernovas. It was a theme he could get behind, better than the Lions, Tigers, and Bears or anything to do with indiginous peoples. 

The most advertised by far were the Supernovas and they were the only ones with pictures of its players on them. He saw one with Kaelen and Aksel, each draping over a different marble pillar of a library. The marketing team had made it look like they were facing off with a couple of columns between them. Each wore a grimace of determination and Jason wondered if there was some kind of fabricated rivalry between them.

It was a long walk between the buildings and green spaces but Jason was proud that he didn’t get lost once, even though he kept getting distracted by a world he hadn’t noticed before. As he arrived at the large building he thought was Alpha gym he carefully checked the name on the door just to be sure he was at the right place.

Trepidation snuck its way back in, the confidence he had gained from his inquisitiveness waning as he was faced with the prospect of actually going  _ in. _ He was saved the effort of indecision by the approach of Barasa.

“Jason! You came after all! Santi will be displeased, he has to pay out to Ari and I. Can you believe he bet us you wouldn’t come?” The man’s jovial tone eased Jason’s nervousness. 

“I can actually. It was probably the safe bet, I certainly thought about just going home.” Jason smiled as Barasa opened his arms wide in welcome.

“And yet you are here! Come my friend, this will be fun!” Barasa opened the door and held it for Jason, waiting for him to enter. Jason nodded and passed through without any more hesitation. 

The light in the gym was that bright fluorescent typical of large buildings like this, but he could see there were different bulb types attached to the high ceiling and he wondered what they could be for. The floor was shiny like he was used to, but it was springy like it was padded and a dark blue. He could see large circles printed in white on the dark background, intermixed with other shapes. Most importantly though, it was huge, with easily enough space for an American Football game. He absently wondered if football was a thing here, based on the advertising he saw outside he really doubted it.

“Jason!” A bright voice called, pulling him from his contemplation and Jason became aware of a bounding Ari heading his way. She took advantage of the sprung floor to back flip her way across the room before landing on her feet right before him facing the other way. He had taken half a step back to assure his safety from the whipping heels, but tried to regain a casual stance as she caught her breath and turned around. 

“You made it!” She eyed Barasa seriously, “Has Santi seen him yet?” She asked.

“No, but I’ll make sure he does!” Barasa took a look around until he located the smaller man, and made his way towards him. 

“He has to pay both of you?” Jason asked, “I hope they were even odds.” Ari laughed before explaining the terms. 

“Oh, he just has to make dinner for Rasa and I. We usually bet favors and chores. Don’t feel too bad for him either, I’m sure someone will take over after about five minutes of watching him struggle. It’s not worth burning the house down over a bet.” She giggled, coral colored eyes sparkling. Jason blushed just slightly before looking away as the door swung open ushering in Kaelen and Aksel.

Kaelen spotted Jason right away and sauntered over, his companion paused before heading towards the others at the center of the room. Jason didn’t mind, he would rather speak to Kaelen without his dark shadow anyway.

“You made it! Come on lad, I’ll introduce you to the team!” Kaelen started to steer him by the shoulders, while Ari looped and arm through his as well, making for a very awkward gait. This group sure didn’t have much respect for personal space, but Jason wasn’t _ too _ bothered by it. Kaelen was still speaking, 

“What are you planning on doing while you're here mate?” Jason tripped over Ari’s right boot and took a moment to regain his balance before answering.

“I thought I would do some classifications of my own then compare them with the existing stats.” Jason explained, and it seemed to invigorate Kaelen who urged them on even quicker towards his teammates

“ That's a great idea man, and I’m sure some of them will be excited to be re-evaluated. Always looking for a way to go up in class ya know?”

Jason didn’t, he was of the normal, albeit boring, human persuasion. He didn’t have a classification, and he absolutely did not want one. They seemed to come with an intangible cost, and the never ending quest for a higher one. 

Jason winced, not wanting to mislead his new friend down a path of promotion.

“I can’t actually...” about to say that he had no authority to reclassify anyone but Kaelen cut across him, nodding along.

“Yeah I know boyo, don’t be worrying your head about it!” 

The trio made their way to the rest of the team, where Kaelen made a general introduction.

“Afternoon me beauties! This is Jason, he is here to gather data on our QP’s, just in case anyone was doubting our general badassery!” Kaelen chuckled along with several, but not all, members of his team. “Jason, these prime examples of Leveledhood are the Supernovas.” A few people moved up to shake his hand but most just nodded, continuing their warm up routine now that it was clear Kaelen wasn’t saying anything important. 

A small asain woman was one of the ones who greeted Jason personally holding out her hand and offering a quick bow.

“I am Yoojin, It’s nice to meet you Jason.” She said in accented english, nearly everyone Jason had met at ALU spoke with some kind of accent so it wasn’t unusual. What was a bit odd was the snicker that came out of Ari at the introduction.

“You feeling ok today Yoojin?” Ari asked, “Did you sleep well last night?” Jason didn’t understand why this statement made Yoojin blush and look away, retreating back to the rest of her team. Ari’s quiet snicker changed into a full laugh until Kaelen approached her from behind and squeezed both of her shoulders firmly.

“Playing nice I see Ari.” Ari’s expression didn’t change at all, not even a little ashamed, but the laugh died down. 

Jason shook hands with a few other people while a general chatter fell over the group. They seemed an overall affable bunch, and he found himself asking if the season, had gone well for them. A green haired man, who’s name he hadn’t caught answered.

“Won all 3 games of the season so far mate!” There were a few whoops of approval that didn’t quite drown out the snarky tone of one comment.

“No thanks to Aksel.” 

The man in question's spine straightened out of the stretch he had been maintaining. His shoulders squared as he turned his entire body and attention on the person that had made the comment, a snarl pulled up one lip. The offender was one of the smaller men in the group with blonde and black patterned hair that he wore pulled back in a tight bun. His tanned skin blanched when he realized he had been heard.

“ Come again? ” Aksel asked moving aggressively in the direction of the commenter. The entire line of people surrounding the transgressing teammate shrank before the tyranny of Aksel. Stepping away and cringing down. All but one, who stepped out from the crowd behind Aksel, arms crossed over his chest.

“He said, ‘No thanks to you’ you idiotic bully! We barely squeaked out a win at our last match because you can’t or won’t listen to anyone but yourself! It’s getting really old man. This is a team, not a Aksel exhibition unit. We aren’t here just to make you look good.” Aksel turned around to face the new attacker. Taller than Jason but not quite Kaelen or Aksel’s height the young man had red hair with streaks of white and blue running through it and nearly glowing orange eyes. He didn’t flinch away as the others had. Holding his ground, a challenge clear in his eyes. In fact he took two steps forward, bringing himself within inches of Aksel who was practically radiating heat in his anger.

Jason was beginning to back away when Kaelen casually slipped an arm over each man's shoulder, putting himself neatly between them.

“Now, now Aksel, Dagur, my two northern brethren. You wouldn’t fight in front of my guest now would you?” Jason thought that judging by the tension in the room that either of the men would gladly beat down the other, regardless of who was present. Dagur glanced at Jason before looking back at Aksel, then Kaelen.

“Who said you could bring a pet?” The man asked, so casually it made Jason’s blood reach for a much hotter temperature. Whoever this guy was, Jason was NOT a fan. His protest in his own defense was quelled by a booming voice cutting across the room.

“Yes Bardeen, who gave permission to bring squishy person here?” A burly older man, barked as he approached from the opposite side of the room that everyone else had entered from. His office, Jason realized as he looked behind the approaching man, seeing the glass window and door.

“Hey, coach Koval! Can you believe this little bagairt* thinks ChronoTactics is just a bunch of random nonsense! I had to set him straight right away!” Kaelen was hamming it up again, hands clutched to his chest in mock offense.  The coach paid no mind to his dramatic Captain and instead turned his steely gaze on Jason directly.

“What do you hope to gain from this boy?” He asked. Jason politely explained, with a few interjections from Kaelen and Santi who he was and that he was just there to observe the different types of QP’s and practice his classifications.

Koval hesitated, considering a moment before nodding curtly.

“Stay, watch, but do not get in the way. These players can take ten times the beating you can and turn out more power hit for hit then any of greatest boxers on planet before the Leveled showed up. Even the little ones.” He eyed Ari, who was admittedly tiny. She just grinned and curled her small fists under her chin in a fighting pose. Koval snorted a small laugh. “Keep next to me and it should be fine. They would never hit me, even on accident. None of them are that stupid.” Jason nodded, and started to make his way to the coaches side who waved him back before addressing the team.  *

“ALU has turned on cameras and has sent out notifications. I have been informed that they would like this session to include an exhibition match between Evenstadt and Bardeen.” The coach looked over one of his shoulders, waving at something above them before turning back to the gathered individuals. “So we won’t be doing that. Instead we do mock tower defense, I have teams listed here.” He handed Kaelen a piece of paper and started to walk away, gesturing to Jason to join him, who followed the coach to the side of the room inside of a smaller white circle marked on the floor. 

Jason took a moment, curious, and pulled out his phone, opening the school's social media page immediately finding the post Koval had been talking about. It was a link to a webcam and was titled: ‘The Devils Own Aksel Evenstadt is in practice RIGHT NOW!’ Jason clicked on the link and watched as the video loaded to a birdseye view of the room he was standing in at that very moment. He searched the ceiling until he was able to find the camera. He looked back at the feed and discovered he could see himself in the right corner of the frame. He hesitated only a moment before forwarding the link to his mother. He knew she missed him and would be endlessly entertained by watching him, even if he was just standing there.

He smiled at his mother's immediate reply and gave the camera a small wave once he knew she was watching. He felt his phone go off again but he was kept from answering by the gym floor suddenly starting to move. 

From his perspective at one edge with Koval, two ends of the floor began to rise in perfect reflection of the other with a central peak surrounded by platforms of varying height creating something of a staircase up to the top. Apparently the tower exercise Koval had assigned for the day required, well, towers. There was about 50 feet of level floor between the bases of each tower and as he watched a flag rose from the peak of each tower, one green and one orange. 

The teammates were huddled into their groups for the day, well out of the way of the shifting floor, having known exactly which panels would move. Jason could see that Ari was on the right side of the room with Aksel and 6 other students on the orange team, one of which he recognized as Yoojin. Kaelen, Barasa and Santi were clustered on the other side representing green. Jason turned his attention to Koval who had also slipped his phone back into his pocket and was watching his team.

“Sir?” Jason asked hesitantly, he normally had no problem asking questions, but this gruff man was a little unnerving. Koval turned his head, eyebrows raised, silently accepting the question. “Would it be ok if I asked you a few questions?”

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t. You are here to learn right? So, learn!” Koval snorted in what Jason hoped was amusement before looking back to the floor, that was still arranging itself into its final position.

Jason thought of all the things he could ask, all the things he didn’t understand. Like what the team was about to do, the rules, things like that. But he found himself more interested in the people than the game.

“Why did ALU call Aksel ‘ the devils own ’ on their link to the webcam?” Jason asked and Koval laughed, surprised by the more personal nature of the question. 

“This is what you ask?” Koval’s eyes squinted in recollection and Jason detected a hint of distaste for the memory. “During one of his first games here some commentator called him ‘The devil's own ChronoTactics player’ and he has been stuck with it. Some fans refer to him as The Devil, and he hates it!” Koval’s face slid back to a somber expression.

“Why?” Jason asked, feeling just a little bit nosey.

“Why?” Koval barked in response, pointing at the groups in front of him. “Look at him!”

Jason had been watching already and was aware of the uproar coming from the team now draped in orange vests. Aksel seemed to occupy the center of an argument, his voice raised as he gave orders to his fellow teammates pointing violently to different platforms. Ari in particular seemed displeased with what he was saying. Jason could only hear bits and pieces over the mechanical noise coming from the floor, but it was clear she was flatly refusing to do whatever it was Aksel was ordering her to.

Ari bounced up and down in her frustration also pointing at the various platforms. It looked like they were arguing about how their team should be positioned. Aksel was bent nearly in half to shout into her face, eyes bulging with fury. Jason was a little surprised at the outburst considering how quiet the man had been during lunch, even during the confrontation with the sexual aggressor. Apparently he kept his words all bottled up so he could release them here.

Koval had continued talking, adding his own commentary to the argument happening before them.

“The boy is...what is word, mudak, oh yes-asshole!” Koval gave the word first in what Jason thought, based on his accent, was either Russian or Ukraininan before remembering its English counterpart. “Stubborn, and impossible to work with. Look, look at kids in green!” Koval gestured and Jason saw that indeed the other team had their heads quietly huddled together, the picture of cooperation. 

“Yeah, no I can see why they call him the Devil, but that isn’t what I meant. I meant why does he hate to be called that?” Jason clarified and Koval jerked his head to look at Jason, a new appreciation for him warming his expression. He paused before answering slowly.

“That is better question.” Koval looked back at the topic of the query, lips pursed and took a deep breath. “One I think I know answer to, but is not my place to say.” He looked back to Jason, eyebrows raised, no trace of apology on his face. “And is none of your business, yes?” Jason nodded quickly, shrinking under the expression.

“Can I ask something more relevant to what's happening here then?” Jason pressed as a loud beeping noise announced the floor was now completely in position, and the students began to make their way up the platforms. Koval nodded curtly. “What are they doing? I mean what is a tower defense exercise?” Koval gave another short laugh. 

“Tower defense, like in video game. They defend their tower by creating additional obstacles, but in this case they use QP’s instead of flimsy building materials. They must also be launching an attack on the other tower to obtain their flag. It’s very important they have the right members defending, who attacks matters, but less.” Jason nodded, not completely understanding but now more interested in the yelling match that was continuing as the orange team had started to position themselves on the structure.

“What are they so upset about?” Jason asked, almost to himself, but Koval shook his head at the question, frustrated by the behavior.

“Evenstadt wants first position on the ground so he can be first off of line to attack with less collateral damage to worry about. Cloutier, correctly, wants that position to better use her QP as a defensive measure. He will bully her into a spot further up, and his team will be the worse for it.” Koval grunted, shaking his head disapprovingly. 

“If Evenstadt is half as clever as he thinks he is, he will know I gave him this team on purpose. The Supernovas do not have ‘weak’ players, but some have to be utilized correctly. I have spent years attempting to get him to play as member of team, and have never succeeded.” Something about that tugged at Jason's reasoning. 

“If you know that he won’t work in a team, why give him one where he would have to?” Koval grinned with dark amusement eyeing Jason.

“Because I want him to lose.” Jason blinked, taken aback until he heard Aksel scream at the small, cheerful Ari again.

“I guess I can understand that.” Koval’s grin deepened and they both shared a low chuckle. 

Koval pulled his phone from his pocket and after a moment of fiddling with it, a countdown began on a screen at one end of the gym. He replaced his phone and removed a set of over the ear headphones he had hanging from his belt. He placed them on his head snugly before offering Jason a small box.

Jason opened the box to find two cone shaped objects he vaguely recognized. They were very soft, deforming under the pressure of his fingers. He looked up at Koval, confusion on his face, but the coach just shrugged and looked away, back to the battlegrounds. Jason looked as well seeing that the teams had settled into final positions.

Aksel was indeed on the ground in the space he wanted and Ari was a few platforms above looking displeased but focused. Jason noticed that several of them were fiddling with their ears and as the countdown reached its final seconds, Jason put the equation together and scrambled to get what he now realized were earplugs into place. 

When the clock hit zero and a horn sounded it only took a few minutes of play for Jason to see a few things about his world more clearly. By the end, while the smoke cleared from the room Jason understood the posters, the webcams, the fans, the girls, he got all of it. It all made sense. Because what he just witnessed was the most impactful demonstration of the most powerful individual QP he had ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Menace
> 
> Next time: Tower defense staring: The Devil-Aksel Evenstadt
> 
> Please feel free to tap that kudo button and leave a comment!


	4. Rage and Blistering Impact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Koval observes the Tower defense exercise and is not impressed with the results. Will Aksel ever learn to behave?

Grygoriy Koval glanced at the kid next to him, glad that he had figured out what the earplugs were for and decided, wisely, to put them in. He had managed it only moments before the combustion started.

Sparks cascaded off Evenstadts skin, rushing with incredible control across the field at a breakneck pace. It was his intention to detonate around the first defender of the tower, Barasa Onyango who had been pushing out his own defense as well. The sand that the African could conjure racing to catch the deadly flickers in the middle, engulfing as many as possible to smother them out before they could ignite.

Koval was pleased with the way the strategy worked for the most part, more than half of the flits of light were buried under the grainy earth. Inevitably, some made it to target and the concussion of hundreds of small bombs created a gust of hot air to rush over Koval and his young companion. 

Koval watched Jason from the periphery of his vision, and found him totally transfixed by the controlled chaos erupting in front of him. Eyes reflecting the light of the bursts of fire, body staggering slightly under the blasts of wind. No longer running the calculation he had trained his brain to reach for, unable to do anything but live purely in the moment. Koval knew a fresh ChronoTactics addict when he saw one, and the boy was hooked.

Eyes returning to his task Koval saw that Onyango had managed to cover the entire floor with his sand in what would be a clever trick if he wasn’t playing his own teammates who should know better than to take his QP for granted. Dev Sarna, damn fool that he was, on the orange team seemed to think it was worth the risk. Drawing on the slippery substance he could create and slicking it under his feet like a slip and slide. Creating a frictionless surface so he could skim over the sand effortlessly.

Koval shook his head, Sarna should really have known better at this point. Onyango wasn’t here because he had a QP that was on its own really damage dealing, he was here because his control over each grain was unprecedented. Evenstadt could direct his sparks with adaptable precision, but what Onyango could do was something different entirely.

This meticulousness was demonstrated in the form of a large hand of sand rising from the floor alongside Sarna and batting him off his feet into the sea of sand on the other side, where other smaller hands clutched the fool and drew him down and away. Out of the game. Koval could tell by the detail in the hands how confident Onyango was, he could make out the creases of the joints and fingernails. Koval knew as he became distracted or stressed the lines would blur, eventually becoming simple blobs. They would still be effective just not the works of art they could be. 

While Sarna was pulled out of the game, Farah Naji on the green team had started to grow, her QP lengthening her in an uneven, grotesque way. One shoulder pulling up over her head, one eye swelling to the size of a cantaloupe while the other retained its original shape. Fingers growing unevenly on the ends of arms with different lengths until she was about 6 meters * tall and the rest of her features caught up, becoming proportional again. It was one of the less pretty manifestations of power but incredibly effective. Naji began to take long strides towards the opposite tower, Onyango sliding sand out of the way as each of her feet touched the ground.

Naji was able to take two more strides before she was engulfed with the tell tale floating embers of Evenstadt’s incoming salvo. She reacted appropriately, instead of trying to bat the sparks away, which would have done her no good, she used her arms to protect her head and made herself as small as possible. The blasts still rocked her, making her step forward right into a growing puddle of tar.

Koval glanced back at the orange tower where Luciano Luka was on one of the lower platforms on his hands and knees, tar waterfalling on to the ground off of his shoulders. Koval examined the ground, noting that on the one side the sand was attempting to push back the implacable tar. It was slow moving but impossible to deter as the sand would just press into its surface creating the perfect camouflage. The boy would need to be commended, it was rather clever.

Naji squealed as she became trapped in the hot tar as more and more surrounded her. She continued to struggle as the fight raged on behind her. 

Evenstadt continued his relentless attack on Onyango, bombs cracking off consistently around the Earth type. Onyango kept defending himself with waves of sand surrounding him, providing just a bit of extra insulation. Koval could no longer see Onyango behind the sparks and sand, and he began to feel annoyed, where was the rest of the green team? It was unreasonable to expect the prime defender to keep up with so many fronts of attack.

His question was answered when finally a blast of water extinguished thousands of burning lights at a time. Rafael Perez kept the tap on from above Onyango creating a spark-proof barrier. Evenstadt adjusted, increasing the size of the explosions just outside the wet barricade. However the layers of water and sand proved to be too effective an insulation, becoming completely effective against the explosions. Evenstadt screamed in frustration, knowing he would have to change strategies.

Instead of turning to his team, and utilizing one of their skills to fill the gaps in his own, he did the worst thing he possibly could, the least strategic move but also the most self satisfying. He raised his arms so they ran parallel to the ground elbows bent at 90 degrees and leapt into the air. At the apex of his jump he set off a series of smaller explosions underneath his arms and legs, creating upwards thrust. Projecting himself towards the other side of the room, it was a crude method, but flying was flying. 

Koval sighed in disappointment as the orange team members protested the absence of their greatest defender. No one was surprised, the kid was consistent in his inability to ignore his instincts to attack. Still, they weren’t pleased, and even less so as Naji began to break free from the tar, that was becoming less and less effective the more it filled with sand.

Before Evenstadt could even land his unscheduled flight, Naji was back on the attack, reaching the base of the orange tower in only a few unobstructed strides. Ariane Cloutier, who hadn’t moved from her position further up the tower was face to face with the giant invader, and did the only thing she could to prevent the other girl from climbing the tower and ending the game. She reached for her QP and spread it to the outer limits of her control. As Koval watched Cloutier, and the top half of Naji disappeared behind a shimmering black and silver orb. 

Koval shivered unconsciously, he had found himself caught in the pink and bubbly girls Void before and was not eager to repeat the experience. Inside that swirling orb, that surrounded not only Cloutier and her target but also inadvertently two of her teammates, was absolutely nothing. No light, no air, no gravity, no temperature, just a literal endless void of nothingness. 

Luckily, if you could call it that, there was no ‘you’ when you are trapped in it as well. No need to breathe, no way to feel the cold or heat that wasn’t there. The longer you were in it the harder it was to maintain a sense of self. A person would begin to go mad within 15 minutes if the girl could keep it up that long. 

So far the most she could manage of an orb of this size was maybe 5 or 6 minutes. It should be more than enough time for the opposite team to press the advantage of three orange members disabled in a desperate attempt to take out one offender. It was a rookie mistake that could have been prevented if Cloutier had been on the ground level, further from her teammates. Like she was advocating for to her irascible team leader. This could be the end for orange, it would take an incredible effort at this point for them to win. Koval’s eyes caught up with the blaze arcing across the room.

Evenstadts flight to the green tower was not smooth, as soon as he was in range, a huge tongue of flame enveloped him. The heat of the room turned up considerably as the rush of fire overtook the explosive man midair. It was incredibly hot, and Koval could see that Dagur Ragnarson, face blank and calm had braced himself against the force of it as the flame rushed out of him trying to impair the incoming missile. 

When the flames let up and Evenstadt was still airborne Ragnarson changed tactics blasting the flames from the sides of the trajectory, trying to throw Evenstadt off course. The force of the flames did knock him to the side, but Evenstadt was able to compensate, quickly correcting his course. It was too late regardless as the explosions cut off and he fell that last few feet onto Onyango, no amount of sand or water capable of deflecting him. 

Predictably with a glowering Evenstadt settled on his chest Oyango surrendered, he was not one for in person conflict. Especially not with this particular combatant. They had of course engaged in hand-to-hand before, and Oyango was always on the losing end of those encounters. At least once with a broken wrist for his trouble.

Assured of the neutralization of his first target, Evenstadt stood, ready to pounce on the next. Finding the desired qualities of a victim in Perez on the platform above him. He launched himself up, using small explosions as a boost. A vision of rage and blistering impact. 

Koval shook his head as Perez cringed back rather than use his water QP to its full advantage against the sparks. Evenstadt didn’t even bother with lighting the young man up, instead using a curled fist to deliver a powerful blow to his opponents head, knocking him unconscious. In Koval’s mind the move qualified as an excessive use of force, the one thing he thought he had managed to beat into the stone head of the brutal Leveled to control. He should no longer be surprised at the kids ability to disappoint him.

Koval had noted the mass exodus of green tower. As soon as Evenstadt had abandoned his post Santiago Cerro and Oliver Robinson rushed across the now unguarded gap per Bardeen’s direction. The blue haired captain understood that the only chance they had of a win now was to rush the orange tower and get to the flag before Evenstadt could get theirs.

Cloutier still held Naji at bay as well as two of her teammates. The remaining four were struggling to hold back the green wave. Cerro was using his QP like a flash bomb, making it impossible to look at him, and Robinson was utilizing his unusual strength to his greatest advantage. It would be a near thing as all out war was fought on both towers.

Evenstadt roared as he leapt from platform to platform dodging Ragnarson’s flames. So focused on him that he made his second mistake for the afternoon, he forgot about Bardeen.

Kaelen Bardeen dropped down on top of Evenstadt causing them both to roll off the tower onto the floor hitting the ground hard. Bardeen rolled off of his friend but Evenstadt remained on the ground, flat on his back, snarling but unable to move. Koval knew that Bardeens invisible QP was at work, using the crushing pressure at his disposal to press the other man into the floor. 

Bardeen was speaking to Evenstadt, Koval couldn’t hear because of the noise cancelling headphones he wore, but he could guess what was being exchanged. Bardeen was asking politely if Evenstadt would like to admit defeat, probably reassuring his friend that there was no shame in not winning every time. 

Evenstadt, unable to move even to speak, responded by disappearing under a column of sparks. His entire body manifesting the little grenades, thousands upon thousands of potential devastation casting the entire arena in a flickering light. Brighter than even the most impressive fireworks display on the planet.

Ragnarson added to the glow by washing Evenstadt in flame, sparks rushing through fire as their creator was crushed like he sat at the bottom of a blazing ocean. The onslaught of the two powerful QP’s used in such a coordinated fashion, should have been enough to force a submission from the impossible manifestor. Koval knew, as well as he understood his own QP that Evenstadt should never be counted out.

Bardeen narrowed his eyes, probably carefully increasing the pressure, unwilling to actually hurt his friend which was idiotic considering the lack of care that went into the targeting of the floating bombs. They swirled around not only Evenstadts two assaulters but everyone on the other tower, teammate or not. The room cast in an ominous flickering light.

Koval grabbed Jason and quickly made him turn his back, pulling the boy to the ground a mere second before the explosions started. Powerful enough to shake the entire building and knock Koval and Jason to the ground from their crouched positions. Koval spared a thought for the upgrades to Alpha gym to prevent it from collapsing under circumstances just like this. Even with his confidence in ALU engineers, it was still a relief when the tremors stopped and the pressure on his body let up.

As things seemed to settle and the heat on his back had lessened Koval turned back to the tower set-up and was at once pleased and frustrated. Pleased because it looked like the building had held up pretty well. Only a couple platforms were missing, torn away and flung to an unknown location. He was also glad that all of his students were still conscious, even if they were all on their butts, most of them holding their heads nursing the probable concussions and whiplash. 

Koval was frustrated because not all of his team was in fact out for the count, one of them stood at the top of green tower, its namesake flag in his hands. A viscous grin on his face as blood poured down his cheeks from his burst eardrums. The self satisfaction was palpable even from across the room.

Evenstadt lept from the top of the tower, using a small burst to slow his fall and landed in front of Bardeen who looked up at his friend dazedly. The victor held out the flag and dropped it in his Captains lap, the grin becoming cruel. Bardeen gave a small snort, causing him to reach for his head to steady it, but his smile was wide. The two clasped hands in a sign of mutual respect, and Evenstadt pulled his fallen comrade to his feet.

Koval grunted and pulled out his phone, not even bothering to yell or give instruction, and opened up the app for Alpha gyms controls and requested a medical team. They would be furious about having to tend to the whole group again, exhausting one of their Leveled with the energy it took to use a Life type QP. 

With that task complete the young man next to him got his attention with his stillness. He hadn’t moved since he had turned around shortly after Koval did, just staring, his eyes taking in the devastation. The kid had probably never seen anything like it before if he never watched ChronoTactics. Hell even if he did, this isn’t usually how it went, with one overwhelming attack ending the game. It was supposed to be a team effort, and only when the teams weren’t evenly matched did a win come so easily. This was life with Aksel Evenstadt, difficult, frustrating, and yet still awe inspiring.

Jason brought himself out of his reverie enough to speak, leaning over to whisper, not wanting to disturb the profound silence of the room. Koval pulled one side of his headphones away from an ear to hear him.

“Are you sure he needs a team at all?” Koval snorted derisively and shrugged his shoulders like the idea was ridiculous, but in the privacy of his mind he admitted to himself that it was probably true. If he didn’t manage to smash some humility into the boy soon, the whole world may have a fiery problem on its hands. He would just have to think of something else or just maybe, an idea striking him, it was time to use that ace he fhad forced up his sleeve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was agonizing to write, but has become a favorite of mine, I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Hit that kudo button and leave a comment! Let me know if this is just the worst-So I can stop wasting my time!
> 
> Thanks for reading-Ginger


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